Necessity of Love, a Reflection on 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal....," Paul wrote to the fractious Corinthian congregation.

Sounding good, even great, doesn't mean much in Paul's assessment. Love is requisite.

"If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith...."

Being able to be prophetic, that is, to be able to transmit the words of God, means nothing without love.

Being able to perform miracles, being willing to be generous, even sacrificing one's own safety are all nothing without love.

For the church to continue to do God's work in the world, its members must have love.

And that includes love for each other. Not just feeling, but also acting.

Sideline--something else I learned from reading Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law by Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson:

The term "love' agape is seldom found in the Greek language until it appears in the Septuagint, where it is standard speech for God's love for Israel (e.g., Dt 10:14) and for how people should live in covenantal community (e.g., Lev 19:18).

Distinctions but Not Disputes, a Reflection on 1 Corinthians 10:10-18

Way back at the beginning of the Christian church in Corinth, Paul wrote to them, appealed to them, to stop their quarreling with each other. He doesn't like what he has been told--that they have divided into factions.

What are we supposed to do with Paul's advice today? When he reminds them that they were baptized in the name of Christ not in the name of one of the faction-leaders, what do we need to be reminded of? Inside the congregation or our denomination, where does our loyalty lie?

Yet, mindless agreement doesn't help much, either. And, I'm not ready to call for the end of denomination distinctions on the basis of this passage. How I'm reading Paul is that although I am not giving up distinctions, I must consider giving up disputes.

Here's how Carl Halladay puts it in Preaching through the Christian Year A:
We should not confuse unity with uniformity. To agree and to be of the same mind and judgment does not require us to formulate our theology in identical terms. Indeed, the true test of Christian unity is the ability to disagree in our formulation of the truth, even in our convictions about the truth, without compromising our ultimate loyalty to Christ--and to each other.

a reflection Acts 3:1-10

Even seeing the healing first hand, they all were astonished that the beggar was now able to walk. Even after hearing Peter invoke the name of Jesus, they couldn't understand what had just happened.

But, keep reading through verse 26.

In response to their lack of understanding, Peter preaches to them. "Did you think that we did this? Have you forgotten the God of Israel? You may have rejected Jesus, the one that God chose, but God has not rejected him."

We today are living among people who also have heard about God, about God's gifts, and God's faithfulness. Yet, they don't expect God to do anything good for them, and they don't recognize when God does. They may have neglected God or they may have corroborated in acts that were in opposition to what God wished.

Peter preaches, "Repent. Even your sins can be forgiven.

Tangent: Verse 16 says that Peter was able to heal the man through faith, but is not explicit whether Peter is talking about his own faith. Nothing is said about the beggar's faith before the healing.

Healing the sick, a Reflection on Mark 6:53-56

At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in his home town. The response to him was mixed, but for the most part negative.

His response was to send out the twelve to preach, exorcise, and heal.

Herod executes John.

Jesus feeds 5,000, walks on water, and stills a storm.

Then, as now, the Jesus movement is met with differing reactions. Then, as now, great blessings accompany the movement, and some folks react with fear, with apathy, or with harm.

Jesus and the apostles have changed geography but not mission. People recognize them and rush to them for help. Wherever he went, people begged for help and he gave it.

Mission Work, Reflection on Mark 6:7-13

Healings have not been working. The people around them just don't believe. The disciples themselves have been shaky.

Jesus sends them out. They go. They have limited resources. A lot of people don't respond well to them. And yet, miracles occur.

Questions raised by Acts 1:1-11

If you had been living in that time and place where the itinerant healer and preacher was crucified, would you have been able to foresee that his teachings would be remembered 2,000 years later? How likely would it have seemed to you that from a small bunch of scared followers, a world-wide religion would develop?

How did it happen?

A clue is in this passage from Acts. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples he had chosen to be his apostles. He told them that they were going to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Instructions, a Reflection on Acts 1:1-11

He was a man who taught and worked and died. He appeared to travelers and disciples. We don't experience him in the way that they did. Yet, we continue to experience him.

They had listened to his teaching. They had asked him when things would be the way they wanted them to be.

He told them that the Holy Spirit would visit them and bestow power upon them.

He vanished from their sight.

But not from their lives.

Mark 16:1-20

When the sabbath was over, the three women who had witnessed the crucifixion brought spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. On the way, they wondered who would roll away the heavy stone blocking entrance to the tomb. When they got there, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. Entering the tomb, they were frightened when they saw a young man sitting there. He told them not to be afraid and for them to go tell the disciples that he would be in Galilee when they got there. They were too afraid to tell anybody.

Morna Hooker, in her commentary on Mark, points out the irony. Throughout this gospel, Jesus has been telling witnesses not to say anything about what they have just seen, and they disobey him. Now, when he says it is time to tell, the witnesses are too scared to say anything.

Some ancient authorities end the Gospel of Mark at this point. Others add verses telling that the women did, after all, tell the disciples. Still other authorities add other verses relating an appearance by Jesus to Mary Magdalene and that nobody believed that he was alive and that she had seen him. He also appeared to the eleven disciples and upbraided them for that unbelief.

Crucifixion, a reflection on Mark 15:16-39

In Mark's gospel, the Jewish council violated several of their own laws. Luke's gospel deletes many of these violations. John's gospel leaves out the trial before the council. We're left to ponder the decisions each of the gospel writers made.

Mark continues to show the Jewish leaders trying to silence Jesus. They press the crowd to call for Pilate to release a murderer rather than Jesus.

Mark tells us their motive was envy.

Pilate's motive was to satisfy the crowd.

We might well reflect on the motives that underlie our own decisions. What effect does envy have on what we do? Whom are we most ready to satisfy? Whose approval means the most to us?

The first reaction to the crucifixion of Jesus was mockery. Mockery by passers-by and by the chief priests and the scribes. "If he's the Messiah, why doesn't he do some Messiah-like thing?" Even the two bandits being crucified next to him taunted him.

Mark is making an important point. What does Messiah-behavior look like? What do we expect of a savior, of an anointed one chosen as our leader? What does it mean for us that our Christ has suffered and died? What does it mean for us that our Christ was rejected by religious experts and deserted by his closest followers?

And what does it mean for us that a centurion, an officer of the occupying Roman army, recognized that this man was God's Son?

What does it mean for us to remember that Jesus had women disciples? ones who were not hiding away at this frightening time but were witnesses to the crucifixion?

Gratitude, a Reflection on Psalm 116:12-19

I can't remember my first prayer. I don't even remember who first told me about prayer or suggested words that might be used. I'm guessing that grace before meals and those bedtime prayers were the first. But, I don't remember who taught me about prayer in time of great difficulty. Somebody must have, because I have been praying that kind of prayer throughout the tough times in my life.

One source of instruction for all of us is, of course, the Psalter.

The psalm chosen for the lectionary reading this week is a thanksgiving psalm.

And, as a thanksgiving psalm, it also gives the need for the prayer that the Lord has answered.

The psalmist remembers the time of distress and anguish and calling on the Lord for help. And, having received that help, the psalmist then gives thanks.

Notice that the psalmist is not being totally private, but is promising to be a witness to the care and support that the Lord gives.

I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!